International Women’s Day 2024

When I saw the announcement of the Bangor University International Women's Day celebration, I was a bit underwhelmed. It was basically just one hour in a big lecture theatre; there would be a talk by two speakers, and then the opportunity for questions. The speakers were fabulous; they were both from the School of Oceans Sciences. They were one of our new professors, and one of the students. And they would talk about encouraging diversity in science. So as the EDI lead in the school, and as a person who finds this sort of thing important, and as someone who likes to stand by her fellow female ocean scientists, I decided to go.

When I was looking for a place to park my bike I saw the lady from HR, which is the one who is helping me with my Athena Swan application, approach the building. She had organised the event, so I knew where she was going. So a bit later I walked into the lecture room. I was a bit early, but that was okay. But I was a bit shocked by the big echoing hall, with up until then only two people in it. Ali from HR, and pro vice chancellor for EDI: Andrew Edwards. Only these two! That was not very promising.

Soon a few more people appeared: one of the speakers, the EDI lead of the College, the Head of School… all people who basically couldn't not be here because of their function. And after that, a few people came in who were just there because they had chosen to. But this was one of the biggest lecture theatres in the university!

Something unexpected happened; Andrew is not only the highest authority on EDI in the university, but he is also the father of the colleague who had recently gone on parental leave! And he was bursting with pride when he showed me a picture of the baby asleep on his lap. That was so sweet.

When it was time, Andrew opened the event. Bilingually, of course. Then Morag, the EDI lead of the college, introduced the two speakers: Yueng and Kodi. And Yueng went first. By that time, there were about 25 people in the whole room, and that included everyone who was part of the organisation. I'm not quite sure how many staff and students we have, but my guess is about 1600 and 10,000.

Yueng basically talked us through her life, with her youth in Singapore, her PhD at Scripps, and her landing in Wales. And how her career progressed there. And she talked us through the composition with regard to gender and ethnicity of the communities involved, and what that had meant to her.

Yueng speaking, with Kodi waiting her turn

Kodi, who is from the Caribbean, had a (so far) shorter life and career to reflect on, but she also talked to us through it. And then she, Yueng and Morag sat down on stage for a question and answer session. I kept track, and it its peak, we had 30 people in total in the room. It's a bit sad! And the ladies did an amazing job, but few people were there to appreciate it. The university still has work to do increasing its diversity, but I don't think this event made a noteworthy contribution to that!

The Q&A session: Morag, Yueng, Kodi

Ali takes a picture of the speakers with Andrew and Morag, with the VC looking on